Something has always bugged me when it comes to the obvious dominance of Europe in the global scale of around 1500 ad to even arguably today. What factors caused Europe to be such a powerhouse? Was it the resources in that Continent that allowed well established economies that created vast empires and armadas as well as trading ships? Was it the politics caused by years of conflict that made Europe much more aggressive and imperialist?

Any sort of links to articles or documentaries or documents that detail this more would be greatly appreciated and thank you for your time in reading this and hopefully answering.

Sorry if a question like this has been answered before I just could not find any sort concrete thing relating to this question.